All language subtitles for North Korea Dark Secrets 2024 1080p web h264-skyfire

Breaking news overnight
out of North Korea.

The country's leader, Kim Jong-Un
flexing military muscle.

The launch was
intercontinental ballistic missile.

The North Koreans releasing
these images of the missile,

which could threaten the U.S.

North Korea has become the most
dangerous country in the world.

The global community
needs to understand

every country is in danger
from the actions of North Korea.

Driving this military machine

is the young, ruthless dictator,
Kim Jong-Un.

He executed his own uncle
with an anti-aircraft machine gun.

Whether he's a madman
or a calculating genius,

Kim Jong-Un will do anything
to stay in power,

even at the expense
of his own people.

They're forcing us
to work until we die.

The regime now threatens
the very existence

of the United States.

They now have the capacity...

to put a nuclear weapon
on New York City.

How did we get here?

How did this tiny country
become a global menace?

And what happens now?

We face the risk of a nuclear 9/11.

They will be met with fire, fury,
and frankly, power.

The likes of which this world
has never seen before.

North Korea,
for decades this secretive country

has remained isolated
from the world.

About the size of Pennsylvania,

this land of 25 million people
is known as the hermit kingdom.

It shares an 880-mile-long border
with China to its north,

and to its south, the 38th parallel
separates it from South Korea.

Since they were divided,
South Korea has become

one of the world's
strongest economies.

North Korea's growth has been
almost exclusively confined

to their military.

Now, their latest ruler
has turned that lone success

into a threatening calling card
against the United States.

But how did the U.S.
become the primary target

of North Korea's wrath?

In the early 1900s,
Korea had a different enemy,

their brutal colonial ruler, Japan.

It was a hellish existence.

Koreans are very proud
and nationalistic

and they suffered terribly
under Japanese rule.

There was an attempt
at ethnic cleansing.

Korea remained a forgotten nation
without a real identity.

But Japan's expanding aggression
would become their undoing

when they attacked
the American naval base

at Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Forced to fight,

The U.S. won the war
by developing the ultimate weapon.

"On August 5th, 1945,

a single bomb destroyed
the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

Unconditional surrender.

Victory over our last enemy, Japan.

Korea, now the scene
of mass evacuation.

As thousands of Japs
pull out for their homeland."

With Japanese forces expelled
from Korea,

the Soviet Union saw an opportunity
to create a new communist state,

but the U.S. insisted on keeping
a democratic foothold

on the Korean peninsula.

A lot of Koreans,
including South Koreans

view the U.S. decision
to partition the Korean peninsula

into two states,
or two halves in 1945.

As the root cause
of all that is wrong with

the Korean peninsula today.

The original sin.

"In North Korea, the Soviet Union
lost no time in setting up

a communist puppet government.

In the south, the United States
and the United Nations

strove to establish
an independent democratic republic."

It was done with no Korean voice.

Koreans had no say in the matter.

The Soviets had
the perfect candidate to lead

the new communist north.

A Korean national
who had served in the Soviet Army

and could be trusted
as a staunch ally.

They installed the Kim Il-Sung
regime in North Korea.

They had been planning on
this during the war with Japan.

In 1948,

the Democratic People's Republic
of Korea was officially founded

with 36-year-old Kim Il-sung
as its leader.

Just two years later,

he invaded the south,
showing the world his true goal,

reunification of the north and south
by any means necessary.

"A highly trained
and well-equipped North Korean Army

stormed across the 38th Parallel

to attack unprepared
South Korean defenders."

The United States commits
to defending South Korea.

(EXPLOSION)

And the war dragged on
for three years until July, 1953,

there is an armistice signed,

not with a formal peace treaty
but a temporary ceasefire agreement.

We have won an armistice
on a single battleground,

not peace in the world.

With North Korea's
ambitions defeated,

the seeds had been sewn
for a hatred of the United States

that persist to this day.

Meanwhile, Kim Il-Sung
turned his attention inward,

developing a cult of personality

to secure his power
for the long term.

Kim Il-Sung was really given
a supernatural quality.

They really likened him
to being God-like,

descending from the heavens.

Even his birth date was interpreted
to have divine significance.

Titanic sank
on the 15th of April 1912.

That was the same day
Kim Il-Sung was born.

North Korean propaganda has always
presented the sinking of the Titanic

as the day the symbol
of British Imperialism sank

while the son of the world
was being born.

Even Kim Il-Sung's military exploits

were exaggerated
to superhuman levels.

Some claimed he singlehandedly
drove out the Japanese.

As North Korea's leader,

he was also said to be infallible
and even immortal.

His mythology was only enhanced
by his outgoing personality.

He does come across
as a charismatic person,

big smiles,

big gestures with his arms,
and good looking.

Kim Il-Sung consolidated his power

by imposing a nationalistic ideology
called "Juche", or "Self-reliance,"

which called for the closing off
of the outside world

and trusting him
as the sole saviour of his people.

Many absurd claims were made.

Reports even went
as far as saying that

Kim Il-Sung never used
the restroom

because he was a perfect being,

untarnished
by base human functions.

Meanwhile, it's estimated that
by the 1980s,

he had erected nearly
35,000 monuments to himself.

But the real secret
of Kim Il-Sung's success

wasn't his popularity
with the public,

it was the build up of his military

and his brutality
against his opponents,

which began almost immediately
after he assumed power.

It was Kim Il-Sung who established

those abysmal political
prison camps,

and so many people
were victimised in prison,

brutally tortured, killed
on Kim Il-Sung's orders.

According to reports,

prisoners were subjected
to severe punishments,

like electric shock,

hanging by the wrist,
and even beatings with shovels.

And Kim Il-Sung's brutality
extended beyond his borders.

He became infamous
for kidnapping foreigners,

seizing people who could
provide expertise for his regime,

or even provide training
to Korean spies.

Evidence of this came to light
in 1987,

when two North Koreans
snuck explosives

onto a South Korean airliner
that exploded in Abu Dhabi.

One of these spies later confessed
she had learned Japanese

from someone who had been
abducted from Japan.

Estimates of this abductions
reach into the thousands.

Internally, Kim Il-Sung's government
was known to canvass schools

looking for attractive girls
to hijack into his harem.

The regime claimed that these girls,
as young as 13,

were becoming part
of an entertainment troop

of singers and dancers,
and they were trained as such.

But the real function
of this pleasure squad

was understood by all.

Kim Il-Sung would rule for 46 years
until his death in 1994.

At 53, Kim Jong-Il
took over his father's position

as leader of North Korea.

He would remain in power
for 17 years.

But even before he took over,
he had already spent a lifetime

developing his own cult
of personality.

It was said that Kim Jong-Il was
born on Korea's sacred Mount Paektu,

and that a new star
appeared in the sky.

It was also claimed that
the seasons immediately changed

from winter to spring.

The truth is far less interesting.

Kim Jong-Il was born
in a Soviet Army barrack

in the Russian Far East in 1941,

when his father was in
the Soviet Army.

According to
North Korean propaganda,

Kim Jong-Il was a brave fighter
in World War II.

Fending off the Japanese.

Quite the accomplishment,
given his age.

The war ended in 1945,

so Kim Jong-Il
would have been a toddler.

In a country
that officially atheistic,

the leaders are made into Gods.

Kim Jong-Il's list
of accomplishments

include outrageous claims
like he invented the hamburger,

and his first time on a golf course
he shot 11 holes in one.

Such tales were a sharp contrast
to his obvious shortcomings.

He was not known to be
an aspiring charismatic leader.

As far as we know he has spoken
in public only on one occasion,

at a military parade.

And he uttered just one sentence,

"Glory to the warriors
of the D.P.R.K."

Kim Jong-Il suffered
from many complexes

and one of these
was his high-pitched voice.

And perhaps this was the reason

why he did not really speak
in public that much,

he was very short.

He wore high heels.

He was not a very good looking man.

Perhaps that was the reason

why he always appeared in public
wearing sunglasses.

But Kim Jong-Il's legacy
would be defined,

not by his personal quirks,

but by his ability
to handle a crisis.

Kim Jong-Il was a terrible manager.

The fundamental defining feature

of Kim Jong-Il's rule
was the great famine

that killed up to
3 million North Koreans.

The table had been set
for this disaster in 1991

with the collapse
of the Soviet Union.

The loss of this major supporter

put North Korea
under severe economic strain.

In 1994, the same year
Kim Jong-Il assumed command,

they were unable to afford fuel
and fertiliser for their farms.

Then a series of floods
decimated much of their farmland.

The starving masses got so desperate

there were reports
of cannibalism in rural areas.

Even today one of the desperate
trends of that time continues.

There is still a significant
shortage of fertiliser

in North Korea.

And yes, they do use
human faeces as fertiliser.

During the famine,

the U.S. State Department estimated
North Korea's defence spending

to be $6 billion.

Had Kim Jong-Il spent
about $200 million,

with which to buy food,

not a single North Korean
needed to die.

While his people were starving
by the millions,

Kim Jong-Il was able
to comfortably continue

to pursue the nation's nuclear
and missile programmes.

He also continued his father's
human rights violations.

He was not only
a prolific womaniser,

but his international kidnappings

which began during
his father's reign,

included a famous movie couple.

Kim Jong-Il was a big movie buff

and fancied himself
a movie director.

He even abducted
a South Korean director

and his former wife,
a very famous actress,

in order to have them
make movies for him.

But the great leader
would soon fall victim

to the one thing
he could not control,

his health.

Kim Jong-Il suffered
a serious stroke in August 2008.

So when he died
in mid December 2011,

it didn't come as a surprise.

"Kim Jong-Il's reign of terror
lasted 17 years,

menacing his neighbour's
with nuclear weapons,

holding his own people hostage
with prison camps and starvation."

When Kim Jong-Il died
in December 2011,

you saw an entire nation mourning.

Did they mean it?

There's no love loss for
the "Dear Leader" as he's called.

John McCain said,

"I can only express satisfaction

that the Dear Leader
is joining the likes of Gaddafi,

Bin Laden, Hitler, and Stalin
in a warm corner of hell."'

Kim Jong-Il's demise
had left him little time

to groom his successor.

Kim Jong-Un took only after
only three years of preparation

at the age of 27.

He was taking over a country
that neglected its people

and was at continual odds
with the rest of the world.

Five and a half years ago
it would have been hard to imagine

that anyone could be more brutal
than Kim Jong-Il,

but Kim Jong-Un has surely managed
to accomplish that.

America's role in dividing Korea
made the U.S. a target

of North Korean hatred.

Dear leader, Kim Il-Sung,
and his successor, Kim Jong-Il

played off this hatred
to build their brutal regimes.

At the age of 27,

Kim Jong-Un
the third dictator of North Korea

was handed a legacy of abuse
toward his country's citizens

and antagonism
toward other countries.

And yet he has proven
to be the most problematic leader

of North Korea yet.

The possibility of armed conflict
is the strongest it's been

since the Korean War.

President Trump stepped up
his personal insults

against Kim Jong-Un,
labelling him, "Little Rocket Man."

And tweeting,
"He won't be around much longer."

The war of words

has included North Korean's foreign
ministry calling Trump, "Old."

And Trump referring to Kim Jong-Un
as, "Short and fat."

Making tensions escalate.

As a young leader,

Kim Jong-Un could rule the country
for decades to come,

just as his grandfather did.

Who is this young leader,

and how did he become
such a huge threat?

Kim Jong-Un was born in 1984,

the youngest
of Kim Jong-Il's three sons.

Intelligence agencies confirm

he spent part of his youth
attending a simple public school

in Bern, Switzerland,
under a false identity.

Former classmates
describe him as a shy child

who struggled with his English,
as well as other subjects.

His peers would later joke

that he could have been called,
"Dim Jong-Un."

While his school work lagged,

he developed an affinity for movies,
video games, and basketball.

These Western influences
are still evident today.

After his time in Switzerland,

it's believed Kim Jong-Un
returned to North Korea,

where he attended
Kim Il-Sung university.

In 2008,

Kim Jong-Il suffered
a debilitating stroke

and began to groom Kim Jong-Un
to take the throne.

But why was the youngest
of the three sons chosen?

The older brothers who had been
considered for this role,

all had sorts of different problems.

One particular brother, Kim Jong-Nam
made various statements

that there could be reforms
for North Korea.

He also went to Disneyland
on a fake passport and got caught.

This was a great embarrassment
to Kim Jong-Il,

that's when he decided
to banish him.

He was sent away to Macau.

The other brother, Kim Jong-Chul,

his problem is that he was also
an international playboy.

Loved to take off,
and go to Eric Clapton concerts,

and he got caught doing this.

Kim Jong-Il thought,
quote unquote that,

"Kim Jong-Chul, the older brother
from the same mother

was too effeminate."

These things are obviously not good
for a regime

that wants to project power,

that wants to project that
it doesn't need the West,

so quite simply Kim Jong-Un
was the only one that was left.

Kim Jong-Un was quickly
given credentials and titles

to legitimise his power.

He was promoted to four-star general

despite the lack
of military training.

These hyped up credentials
would be tested

after only three years
of preparation,

when his father died,
leaving him in charge.

With a tenuous grasp on power,

Kim Jong-Un did everything
he could to secure his position.

North Korean propaganda
has been very busy

forging a personality cult
for Kim Jong-Un.

As soon as he became
leader of North Korea,

they showed a documentary.

You see stories about Kim Jong-Un
having been able to drive a car

at a very young age.

You will see Kim Jong-Un giving
advice to this K.P.A. officers

on how to fire a pistol.

These are professional soldiers,

but then again they just have
to bow deeply and listen.

(GUN SHOT)

It's apparent that Kim Jong-Un
has tried to revive

the nostalgic fond memory
of the founder.

Kim Jong-Un tries to imitate
Kim Il-Sung's gestures,

smiles,

even the tone of his voice
when he's reading a speech.

(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

Kim Jong-Un's most obvious
attempt to emulate his grandfather

is his haircut.

He also put on weight and possibly
took even more extreme measures.

There are experts who believe that

he may have had some type
of plastic surgery

in order to enhance his resemblance
to his grandfather.

You see him wearing those Mow suits
that Kim Il-Sung used to wear.

You even see him
wearing the straw hats

that Kim Il-Sung used to wear.

Kim Jong-Un even evoked
his father's anti-Japanese stance

by changing North Korean time
by 30 minutes

to avoid being on the same time
as Japan.

However, Kim Jong-Un
has made key departures

from North Korean tradition,

including sharing the spotlight
with his wife.

In fact, his wife is a pop star.

She has been spotted in many places
inside North Korea

dawning an expensive
Christian Dior handbag

and much more fashionable attire

than what's common
inside North Korea.

Previous leaders of North Korea
did not really appear in public

with their spouses.

So this is a new-cult
of personality.

Kim Jong-Un has
at least one daughter

who's probably
four or five years old now.

And we know this primarily
thanks to Dennis Rodman,

the former NBA star,

who has visited North Korea
several times now.

Kim Jong-Un's love of basketball
and all Western culture,

stems from his childhood days
in Switzerland.

Dennis Rodman told the world
that he had drunk with Kim Jong-Un,

stayed up late with Kim Jong-Un

and even held his
baby daughter in his arms.

Happy birthday to you!

(ALL CLAPPING)

While one third of North Korea's
children are malnourished,

Kim Jong-Un has a pleasure island

that Dennis Rodman
compared to Ibiza.

As Kim Jong-Un dines on caviar
and French cheese,

he tells his population
that dog meat is a super food

they should enjoy,

and if they
beat the animals to death,

it will taste better.

In addition, Kim Jong-Un is said

to have 17 palaces scattered
throughout the country.

Many with a runway
for his private jet,

jokingly called "Air Force Un."

He is also reported to spend upwards
of $30 million per year

on fancy imported liquor.

He owns an armoured Mercedes
for local travel

and he has a thoroughbred
horse collection

that costs more than $10 million
annually to train and maintain.

Kim Jong-Un has also built
many spectacular constructions,

amusement parks, a water park,

an aquarium, a dolphinarium,

a luxury ski resort.

Kim Jong-Un has effectively
turned all of North Korea

into his own playground.

Everything that's made
is made for him first,

like he's the star of his own movie.

But by sharing his indulgences
with the elite of his country,

he helps ensure their loyalty.

Kim Jong-Un is following
the father's model,

he rules through gift politic.

Especially by creating
consumption space

for the elites.

He also rules through fear politic,
through terror.

Jang Song-Thaek, he is the uncle
of the leader Kim Jong-Un,

has been executed.

Now, this is a surprise move

because until recently Jang
was considered

North Korea's second
most powerful man.

Kim Jong-Un had his uncle,
Jang Song-Thaek executed

just two years into his own rule

because Uncle Jang
had become too powerful.

When arrested this week,

he was accused of double-dealing
and acts of treachery.

The once trusted envoy was executed,
reportedly with a heavy machine gun

and described as worse than a dog.

He executed his own uncle

with a ZPU4 anti-aircraft
machine gun system.

Bodies are pulverised.

These persons who are executed
in North Korea

are even denied this fundamental
human right of leaving the corpse.

Kim Jong-Un's uncle wasn't the only
family member he had killed either.

We're back now with yet another
stunning twist in the assassination

of North Korean leader
Kim Jong-Un's

estranged half-brother.

He killed his brother Nam,
using assassins

who wiped VX on his face
in a Malaysian airport.

"The man believed to be

the North Korean dictator's
half-brother

and one-time rival
is wheeled away on a stretcher,

later pronounced dead
at a hospital."

VX is the most nasty element
ever made by humans.

It's the element that been described
as something

we wish we could uninvent.

It's a neurotoxin
with extraordinary lethality.

It's an oily substance that
if even a drop of it gets on you,

you die in spasms

and your own muscles crack
your own bones.

It is a brutal, brutal weapon.

And Kim Jong-Un decided to kill
his own brother with this weapon.

During the first five years
of the Kim Jong-Un regime

340 officials
were purged or executed.

But no one suffers more
than the Korean people.

Kim particularly enjoys trying
out new ways to kill people.

He travels around the country
with an anti aircraft weapon.

And where he has somebody
criticise him or anything

he lets fly at them
with a huge anti-aircraft weapon.

He's out of it.

It's pretty hard to get any crazier
than Kim Jong-Un.

But crazy doesn't necessarily
mean ineffective,

it may just mean evil objectives.

And the first step toward
accomplishing those evil objectives

is to brainwash an entire country.

Kim Jong-Un has proven
that he'll kill his own family

to stay in power.

With that kind of resolve,
what chance do his citizens have?

The North Korean regime

has spent the last 70 years
conditioning their people

to blindly pledge their loyalty
to the Kim dynasty.

Today the leadership
has such absolute control

over the Korean people

that they even hold elections
every five years.

The dear leader gets
100 percent of the votes.

In fact, when Kim Jong-Un
ventures out into the public

the people can be seen
making dramatic displays

of admiration towards him.

Some people are true believers,
some people are pretenders,

but everyone has to show
maximum respect.

But just what is life
like in North Korea?

How does the Kim regime
maintain control

over 25 million people?

The brainwashing runs deep.

It starts very early,

and continues
throughout one's formal education.

There are loud speakers
playing hymns.

They're playing
ultra nationalistic music

about the leaders themselves.

What I wanted to share with you
right now is our wakeup call.

From early morning at 5 a.m.
to the next night until 2 a.m.

they broadcast live announcements.

Constantly songs about Kim Il-Sung.

(CHILDREN SINGING
IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

As for the Korean War,

we learned in North Korea
that the United States started it.

So, before I came to South Korea
that is what I knew.

Children are taught target practice.

They use silhouettes
of American GIs.

Korea even maintains
a museum in Sinchon

that depicts fabricated atrocities
committed by American soldiers.

One scene shows GIs pounding nails
into a woman's head.

Everyday of your life
the regime will remind you

that you're perpetually under siege.

Meanwhile, they project
a very different image

to the outside world.

In Pyongyang,

tourists are taken
through neighbourhoods

that demonstrate
and upscale lifestyle,

but the stores
don't actually sell anything.

The restaurants
aren't open for business.

And the well-kept building
are actually empty shells.

For those who live there,

day-to-day life in North Korean
is governed by a strict set of rules

including personal appearance.

There is a limited number
of approved hairstyles

for both men and women.

They cannot get very creative

because they'll be stopped
by a security agent in the street

and there will be consequences.

It's been reported that

men are actually forbidden
to copy Kim Jong-Un's hairstyle

in deference to their dear leader.

They tell us that women
should be feminine,

and they make us wear skirts.

If you wear the prohibited pants,

they would just tear it off
with scissors

in the middle of the street.

And while the propaganda machine
claims that

North Korean medicine
can cure aids and cancer,

the reality is much darker.

There is endemic shortage
of antibiotics, painkillers,

that's why there are so many
amputations in North Korea

because so many infections
go directly to gangrene.

They amputate with no anaesthesia.

You're talking...

the Dark Ages.

Even the social hierarchy
of the country is dictated

by the government.

North Korea is the only country
on the face of the planet

that classifies its own people
into three categories

depending on the perceived level
of loyalty to the regime

of parents, grandparents,
and other relatives.

My whole family
was kicked out of Pyongyang

because my grandfather
made a mistake,

which is playing
foreign culture music

inside a big conference.

From that point
their life went straight down.

At the top of the core class
made of the elites of North Korea,

high ranking party officials
and their families

enjoy comfortable lifestyles
in the nation's developed cities,

like the capital, Pyongyang.

If you're an elite in North Korea,

you get a lot of benefits
from showing loyalty to North Korea

and you can have a privileged life.

In the middle is the wavering class
made up of peasants and workers

who have shown exceptional loyalty
to the regime,

despite the hardships
they're forced to endure.

When I was about nine years old,

the electricity was cut-off
and there was no running water.

So, I had to get water
from the streets.

At the bottom is the hostile class,

made up of families that oppose
the regime at one time or another.

If you are designated a member
of the hostile class

all the major decisions
are made by the state for you.

Habitation, education, employment,
food, water, clothing.

Everything has been
distributed by the state

according to your political rank.

They are condemned regardless of
how bright or smart they,

you know, might be, to a very low
class and low level opportunities.

The Kim regime not only dictates
the level of luxury one has,

they also attempt to control
the influx of any information

that could shed an alternative light
on the state of the world.

The only TV channels,
TV programmes, and radio programmes

inside North Korea
are state-managed,

state-operated stations.

The internal news media
would have people believe that

crimes like robbery and murder
are virtually non-existent.

But extreme poverty forces many

to take desperate measures
to survive.

Not only are these
transgressions punished,

but even watching the wrong media
can get a person sentenced

to three years
in a forced labour camp.

You enter the political
prisoner camp

you lose the will to live.

They exploit you
by forcing you to work

until your body breaks down
and loses all strength.

You're forced to sacrifice
your life that way.

And the odds of a lawbreaker
getting caught are extremely high.

There are 270,000 agents
who conduct strict surveillance

of North Korea's 25 million people.

More over each and every person
in North Korea is an informer.

Many times you'll get sent to jail
just on suspicion of doing something

with no actual evidence or anything
that you've done anything wrong.

It was a system where neighbours
would spy on neighbours.

Even if I was a normal person

and expressed slight dissatisfaction
towards the party,

they would report you,

and your entire family
would be captured

and brought
to a political prison camp.

What happens in these camps,
is nothing short of apocalyptic.

They're on the par with the Nazis
did to the Jews and others

during World War II.

But citizens of North Korea
don't need to be in prison camps

to experience atrocities.

They're subjected to torture,
forced labour,

and public executions.

When I was young
I watched a public execution,

90 bullets within one person
with AK 47s.

I saw nine people
getting burned to death,

and I saw public executions,
I think seven times.

I saw how they hanged nine people
and they burned them,

and it was horrible.

They don't just go
after the dissident,

they go after three generations
of the dissidence family.

This mafia style approach
to punishment

isn't North Korea's only similarity
to the mob.

The entire country is essentially
a criminal syndicate

operating as an independent state.

With the North Korean people
brainwashed and under firm control,

Kim Jong-Un can continue

the frightening
military build-up started

by his grandfather.

Over the past 70 years,

North Korea has developed
the kind of nuclear weapons

only available to superpowers.

The cost of this pursuit
is enormous.

How has this small country managed
to fund their dangerous operation?

Through much of the 20th century
the North Korean economy relied

on their rich supply of minerals.

But as the country became isolated

the market for
their resources dried up,

so they turned to alternate ways
of making money.

Spearheading these operations
is the clandestine agency known

as Office 39.

Office 39 has been estimated

to bring in $1 billion
per year or more,

largely through illegal activities.

Kim Jong-Un really
sits atop a criminal network

that would make Don Corleone
or Tony Soprano proud.

One of North Korea's approaches
was the literal printing of money,

duplicating U.S. dollars
with surprising accuracy.

The notorious Supernotes,
the North Korean counterfeit bills.

The quality was very good.

There is a simple reason
behind that.

The same (UNCLEAR) presses
made in Switzerland

used to produce
North Korean currency

were used to produce
counterfeit dollars.

North Korea also committed
some of its farmland

to a different brand
of counterfeiting.

North Korea is notorious
for producing counterfeit cigarettes

and exporting contraband cigarettes.

North Korea is one of the world's
top 25 tobacco producing countries.

Their high quality imitations

bring in an estimated
$160 million each year.

Quality is very good
for a simple reason.

Elsewhere it's criminal organisation

that produce these
counterfeit cigarettes.

In North Korea,

the Kim regime
is a criminal organisation

masquerading as a sovereign state

that uses state assets in order
to produce counterfeit cigarettes.

And cigarettes are not
the only vice they exploit.

North Korea
is a complete drug cartel

with product flowing both internally
and externally.

There is a huge drug problem
in North Korea.

I've spoken with many young
North Koreans who defected

and they very casually stated
that they had used drugs

on multiple occasions
in North Korea.

They hadn't realised that this
was not acceptable behaviour.

Arguably people who are oppressed

and experience
substance abuse problems

are easier to control.

From cocaine to methamphetamine,
to counterfeit Viagra,

North Korea has been
caught smuggling drugs

to countries all over the world,

including a cash of heroine
headed to Australia in 2003

worth $80 million.

North Korea's drug trade

generates hundreds of millions
of dollars each year.

And sanctions designed to shut down
their multi faceted flow of money

are expertly dodged.

North Koreans survive
on black market activity,

primarily through
establishing shell companies,

fake corporations inside China
and in other countries.

By disguising
how transactions are paid for.

They transact money

from another shell company
and another one

and would basically test
the patience of custom investigator

to go through four or five levels
of shell companies

before he finds out that
there's a bank someplace

in an offshore island
in the Caribbean

that is doing transactions
for North Korea

that they never would have known
unless they had gone through

and found all the shell companies
that were involved in financing it.

North Korea also dodges sanctions
against illegal activities

by disguising their ships to look
like there from other countries

in a process called "Reflagging."

They have developed a complex
network of relationships

in order to have their ships
registered under foreign flags

and thus enabled to bypass
international scrutiny

and sanctions.

One of the most frightening
exports from North Korea

involves weapons themselves.

North Korea has provided arms
to terrorists groups

like Hamas, Hezbollah,
to the Iranian State, Pakistan.

International terrorism,
drug dealing, counterfeiting,

North Korea's flow
of dirty money

has helped them become the nuclear
state the U.S. has tried to prevent.

And unfortunately nuclear arms
are no longer the only weapon

the U.S. has to worry about.

North Korea's oppression
of its people has created a country

that appears to be stuck in time

with technology lagging behind
the rest of the world by decades.

If you looked at a world map
at night, what you tend to see is,

China and Asia and South Korea
glittering with lights.

And then there's North Korea,
the dark spot in the middle.

In North Korea,

for people they don't
have a water system.

They don't even have electricity.

It is very, very, very rare
to have somebody the computer.

But underneath that backward façade,

North Korea has become
a technological threat

that's already in our own backyard.

Their massive flow
of black market money

has helped them fund
a cyber warfare programme

that can hit anyone.

The average citizen in North Korea
doesn't have internet.

But, you know, academics,
university researchers,

government employees,
and clearly their cyber hackers

all have access to the internet

and are able to conduct attacks
all over the world.

North Korea is probably among
the top five in the world

when it comes
to cyber hacking capability.

North Korea apparently trains
its best and brightest students

to become cyber warriors.

Sony Pictures says it has no further
release plans for "The Interview."

An announcement
that has rocked Hollywood.

In 2014,

a cyber attack from North Korea
prompted Sony Pictures

to cancel the release of,
"The Interview"

a satirical comedy
that involved a plot

to assassinate Kim Jong-Un.

North Korea wipes
all of Sony's network,

but then also stole all
of their emails and released those.

North Korea threatened blowing up
American theatres

that would show "The Interview."

Sony made its decision after
the country's largest theatre chains

announced they were
pulling the movie.

Concerned when the hackers

threatened locations
showing the film.

This will go down in the annals
of U.S.-North Korea relations

as the first time that
a foreign government

imposed on Americans
self-censorship.

The Sony hack proved

that North Korea
can make a significant impact

on American business.

Emboldened by their success,

North Korean hackers
set their sights

on more lucrative targets.

They got into the Bank of Bangladesh

via what we call,
"Email Spearfishing."

They just sent emails
to particular people

inside the Bank of Bangladesh,

tricked them into running
the attachments.

They attempted
to transfer $1 billion

and if it was not
for a very small typo

they would succeeded.

They did get away in the end
with $81 million.

The theft of tens of millions
of dollars is only the beginning

for North Korea's cyber criminals.

Their reach is now
more widespread than ever.

When the WannaCry outbreak
happened in May of 2017,

they basically upped their game.

We're well aware of
the rising threat from Ransomware

it has perhaps become
the number one cyber threat

around the world right now,

but we've never seen anything
on this scale.

This worm was able to jump
onto computers

by using what we call an exploit.

A piece of code that allows it
to get on your machine

without you having to do anything.

Your computer just needs to be on
and connected to the internet.

We saw hundreds of thousands
of computers infected

just over a few hours.

When WannaCry
got onto your machine,

it pretended to be
what's called Ransomware.

Ransomware basically encrypts
all of your files on your machine

and then tells you,
"If you pay us $300,

we'll give you the key
to decrypt all of your files."

However, their goal was essentially
to just trash your computer.

Unfortunately, it hit a variety
of organisations in Europe,

including things
like hospitals in the UK,

which were completely shutdown.

The German train system
for example was impacted

as well as the telephone networks
in Spain.

There's nothing that,

is stopping North Korea
from doing the same thing,

potentially to some
sort of power supplier.

Often you can get
into one or two key points

and cause a domino effect

and really impact
the entire U.S. grid.

Once the power's out,
there's no banking going on anymore.

Potentially water flow
doesn't happen anymore,

traffic lights are out.

Everything ceases
to operate normally.

The most vulnerable countries

are the ones that
have the most of their society

linked together by electronics.

It's not just a computer somewhere

that is connected
to your washing machine.

Your washing machine is through
the web connected to your dryer.

Everything's connected
with everything.

What could possibly go wrong?
The answer is, everything.

We are constantly probed
in the cyber world.

We, we... And have been
for sometime.

And we are alert
and we recognise the probes

and we are responding.

And what would the U.S.'s
response be? A cyber attack back?

Unfortunately,
it's very asymmetrical,

North Korea does not rely
on the internet,

does not rely on all these computers
that we do to run our country.

So a cyber attack on North Korea
would be very ineffective.

This is not the first time
we've seen attacks

by Nation States
against U.S. companies.

There have been
other types of attacks.

There have been other countries
who actually have capabilities

and are inside
our corporate networks right now.

This is gonna require
strong government policy

by the United States.

A real thing that we're worried
about for North Korea in the future

is their willingness to do
something much greater

than just that cyber attack.

We have radar systems
that are watching

if there's incoming missiles,

so you could have a country
like North Korea

basically conduct a cyber attack
on those radar systems

to show that Russia has launched,

you know, a tonne of
nuclear missiles at the U.S.

causing the U.S. to retaliate

and essentially start a war

when there was no missiles to launch
to being with.

The mob like money machine
of North Korea

and their aggressive cyber warfare

show how ruthless
they're willing to be

against their opponents.

And now Kim Jong-Un
has nuclear capabilities

that rival those of the U.S.

How did this regime develop
such a deadly arsenal

that requires such
specialised knowledge?

In the 1940s,

North Korea's first leader
Kim Il-Sung became obsessed

with acquiring nuclear technology.

Having seen the deadly power
of the bomb.

In those days the U.S.
and the Soviet Union

enjoyed a near monopoly
on nuclear weapons.

North Korea pleaded
with the Soviet leadership

for technology transfer.

The Soviet Union
did not trust North Korea,

so withheld providing
a blueprint for a bomb.

But the Soviets did help North Korea

with building a nuclear reactor
for power generation.

The Soviets told them,

"This is for peaceful
nuclear application."

The problem is,

Kim Il-Sung decided that they had
to have their own capabilities.

Blatantly ignoring their deal
with the Soviets,

North Korea would spend
the following decades

pursuing nuclear ambitions
in defiance

of the international community.

The nuclear reactors
were used to generate plutonium,

which can be used
as fuel for weapons.

The programme was past
from father to son,

when Kim Il-Sung died in 1994.

Kim Jong-Il took over,

and put the country's
plutonium production on hold,

appearing to bow
to international pressure.

But he was actually
switching his focus

to a different nuclear fuel,
enriched uranium.

Unlike plutonium,
which requires a nuclear reactor

that can easily be seen
by enemy satellites.

Enriched uranium can be produced
in hidden underground facilities,

and helping them develop
this technology

was a man named A. Q. Khan.

A. Q. Khan from Pakistan
was an entrepreneur

in the illicit dissemination
of nuclear technology,

particularly uranium enrichment.

A. Q. Khan traded uranium enrichment
technology with North Korea

in exchange for
ballistic missile technology.

The icing on the cake
was the revelation

that during this
whole period of time

the North Koreans had built
a large uranium enrichment plant

in an underground location.

A. Q. Khan provided the knowledge
and technology

to produce highly enriched uranium
by using centrifuges,

designed to separate
the most volatile isotopes.

The centrifuge
is a very rapidly spinning tool

that then spins this gas
and allows uranium 238,

which is the common stuff
to go to the outside.

Uranium 235,
which is the bomb fuel type,

stays on the inside.

And you do it over and over and over

in what are called
centrifuge cascades.

Throughout the 1990s,

North Korea was secretly mining
raw uranium

within their open borders.

For the mine workers
it was hard and dangerous labour.

They were reportedly only
given one day off per month,

while being directly exposed
to radio active materials

known to cause cancer.

Their work has paid off
for the regime.

In 2002, it was successful enough

that North Korea admitted
they had a secret nuclear programme.

North Korea said,

"Yes, we are enriching uranium,
what are you going to do about it?"

They even invited
Dr. Siegfried Hecker,

former director of
the Los Alamos National Laboratory

to take a tour of the facilities.

Most of the U.S. Government
did not want me to go

because people thought that I would
be used for propaganda purposes.

But there were a few courageous
individuals in the U.S. Government

that said, "Why not?
We might learn something."

Hecker visited North Korea
seven times from 2004 to 2010.

He's the only American to have seen
the most secretive parts

of the North Korean nuclear
weapons programme.

In 2010, in one of my visits to
the North Korean Nuclear Complex,

they actually showed me
a modern centrifuge facility.

My jaw just dropped.

I was stunned

to see what looked like hundreds
and hundreds of centrifuges

lined up
at three different locations.

It was just stunning.

The growing power
of the North Korean programme

had already been put on display
starting October 3rd, 2006,

with their first underground
nuclear test.

The first one was
a very small explosive field.

We know that they've tested.

Because when you test underground,

you send seismic signals
throughout the entire Earth

and you can read
those seismic signals.

In 2009 in May,

they conducted
a second nuclear test

and that had about half of
the destructive power of Hiroshima.

North Korea subsequent nuclear test
each showed a significant increase

in destructive force.

By 2016, we saw big advancements

in North Korea's
nuclear weapons development.

And estimates really range
from around 20 to 30 kilotons,

which is roughly
the size of the bomb

that was dropped on Nagasaki.

North Korea's most recent
nuclear test in September of 2017,

yielded its biggest blast yet.

Although difficult to pinpoint,

estimates for this latest blast

range from 70 kilotons
to 280 kilotons.

It's been so many years
since Hiroshima and Nagasaki

that perhaps we are forgetting
the devastation

that these things yield,
but it is biblical.

If North Korea could accurately drop

one of their current nuclear weapons
on New York City,

then the death toll could easily
be over 5 million people.

Nuclear weapons are only dangerous

if they can be delivered
to their target,

and recent missile testing has shown
that North Korea is well on its way,

if not already there.

North Korea's first intercontinental
ballistic missile test

was conducted on July 4th, 2017,

as sort of North Korea's
present to America.

Every country
that's ever tested an ICBM,

their first few tests are failures.

So we were surprised that
their first test was so successful.

It is clear that North Korea's
moving forward

in trying to develop
ICBM technologies.

So they're getting better
and better and better.

And we can keep issuing
press releases here

and have a lot of people in the West
ring their hands and say,

"Look my goodness,
but they're not there yet."

The answer is,
I think they are there.

It's simply a matter of time

before all targets
in the United States are vulnerable

and really around the world.

North and South Korea
have technically been at war

for the last seven decades.

Since the Korean War,

the Kim regime has dreamed of
dominating the Korean peninsula.

And they've now developed
the weaponry

to make any confrontation
catastrophic.

Under Kim Jong-Un,

threats to Seoul
have been escalating.

(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

What are his secret plans?

They want to unify
the peninsula violently.

They believe they need to be
in control of the peninsula

and that they'll
use weapons to do it.

Reunification is a desire expressed
by both North and South Korea.

But each side wants it
under their terms.

If North Korea
took over South Korea,

Kim Jong-Un would have
to convince 50 million people

who are used to freedom
to submit to total state control.

Or build enough prisons
for those who won't.

If South Korea
took over North Korea,

it would be over the bodies
of Kim Jong-Un,

his 9 million military personnel,
countless civilians,

and as many South Koreans
as they could take with them,

a price far too high to pay.

But Kim Jong-Un could tip the tables
in his favour if he had the bomb.

North Korea's growing
nuclear capabilities

combined with their
provocative missile launches

and reckless threats

have created unprecedented tension
along the DMZ.

The DMZ stretches from
the Yellow Sea on the West

to the Sea of Japan on the east.

It is the most militarised piece
of terrain

that you would ever see
in the world.

It has 15-foot concertina
and barbed wire fences

that go below the ground,
multiple feet,

mines on both sides,

and it's patrolled
by the best soldiers

the South Korean military
and the United States has 24/7.

Just across the border
from South Korea lies Kijong Dong,

an entire town
that is completely fake.

Known as propaganda village,

it was intended to project
and inviting lifestyle

to lure defectors
from South Korea.

Instead most defectors
are going the other way.

In November, a North Korean soldier
made a daring dash toward the DMZ.

He raced past a guard post,

then sprinted across and open
section of a joint security area

entering the South.

As North Korean soldiers
tried to gun him down.

He sustained four major wounds,
which drained him of half his blood

before South Korean soldiers
could pull him to safety.

At the hospital,

doctors found his digestive tract
riddled with parasitic worms,

indicating a severe lack
of nutrition and hygiene.

It's especially troubling
considering soldiers

have preferred status
and receive the best provisions.

South Korea immediately broadcast
news of the successful defection

toward North Korean soldiers,

part of an ongoing propaganda war
between both sides along the DMZ.

South Korea even blares
Korean pop music

at the North Korean soldiers
to wear them down.

(POP MUSIC)

In 2015,
this started a small fire-fight,

when North Korean troops shot
at the speakers.

The DMZ has become
increasingly militarised.

Primarily because of the growth
of the North Korean military.

It is the fourth largest military
in the world

with probably one of the largest
standing militaries

in terms of infantry,
and armour, and artillery.

With a tremendous emphasis
on their rocket, artillery

and missile capabilities.

Capable of reaching Seoul
with zero warning.

The military of North Korea
should not mistake

the resolve of
the United States of America

to stand with our ally.

The alliance between South Korea
and the United States is ironclad.

The United States has only
three bilateral defence treaties.

The first is Japan,
the second is South Korea,

and third is the Philippines.

And we take this very seriously.

The U.S. Military presence
in South Korea today...

is about 30,000.

We have billions of dollars
of defence and armaments there.

We run regular military exercises
along the border.

We guarantee we will defend them
if they are attacked.

If North Korea decided
to invade the South,

it would begin with the insertion
of special operation forces

along the coast.

Hundreds and hundreds of aircraft

from which they would
launch airborne forces.

The dispersal of North Korean
special ops

across the lower parts
of the peninsula

would draw resources away from
North Korea's primary target, Seoul.

The South's capital is only 35 miles
from the DMZ.

There would be an artillery
and rocket barrage into the south.

That would be devastating
and catastrophic.

Almost immediately on the heels
of that would be an invasion...

down to principle corridors
that lead directly to Seoul.

The idea of a war on
the Korean Peninsula is horrifying.

There are so many people,
tens of millions of people in Seoul

right in the crosshairs
of all of Kim's weaponry.

The ability to fight a war

and not have that
entire city destroyed

and those people killed
is extremely difficult.

If the North Korean forces
were to exercise

their tremendous inventory

of artillery, and rockets,
and missiles.

A large percentage
of those are located

in the northern slopes
of the mountains along the DMZ.

So the United States
or the South Korean forces

would have to fly to the north

and then from
the north fly back down

with an attack angle
to go after those caves.

North Korea's attack
would take place over the course

of 30 to 45 minutes

before the United States
and South Korea

would even be able to start
to interdict these capabilities.

That intervening 45 minutes
would be catastrophic to Seoul.

Tens of thousands of families
would be destroyed.

The devastation
would be unbelievable

and the panic would be unbelievable.

The psychical presence of U.S.
troops in harms way in South Korea

sends the loudest message
to North Korea,

"Don't do it."

If you attack...

Americans will be among
the first to be sacrificed.

We will march right into Pyongyang

and end your regime.

Kim Jong-Un has dreams
of taking over South Korea,

and he's added a nuclear arsenal

to go along with the fourth
largest military in the world.

But he knows starting a war
would draw quick decisive wrath

from the Unites States.

If Kim Jong-Un
has serious military ambitions,

his only hope might be
to break America's will first

with a decisive pre-emptive strike.

North Korea may actually believe

that they have to attack us
to prevent us from attacking them

because they're
a massively insecure, poor,

and dangerous regime.

It is a possibility that the U.S.
has been preparing for.

U.S. policy is extremely clear.

If North Korea or Kim Jong-Un
decided to launch a nuclear attack

on the United States,

we would respond
with overwhelming force.

The United States
would have a range of options

to basically turn North Korea
into a giant nuclear parking lot.

We don't want war,

we don't want to have to take
military action against North Korea,

but there should be no doubt
in Kim Jong-Un's mind

that if forced and if we believe
that's the only alternative,

we will flatten his country.

Together we are facing
the threat of the reckless

and brutal regime in North Korea.

The nuclear and ballistic missile
programmes of that regime

require a determined response.

But Trump's approach might cause
more problems than it solves.

This is an individual who shows
publicly observable behaviours

that are consistent
with narcissism.

He lives according to pure emotion
in the moment.

He will send out tweets
in the moment

that may be incendiary.

And so what you end up,

practically speaking is a battle
between two adolescents.

In the face of this
blustery standoff

Kim Jong-Un's unpredictable
and defiant behaviour

cannot be discounted.

I think that Kim Jong-Un
could somehow get the idea

that he could succeed with causing
the United States to back down

if he uses a nuclear weapon
against them.

That's nuts,

but then so was
Hitler invading Russia.

And another week, another launch
from the North Koreans.

But this one was different.

For a start it didn't fail,

and it appears to be a new type
of rocket with a longer range.

One that North Korea says
can carry a nuclear warhead.

I testified to Congress on record

that I believe North Korea
had the ability to produce

a intercontinental ballistic missile

with a miniaturised nuclear warhead
with a re-entry vehicle

that could successfully target
the United States.

And I stand by
that assessment today.

Well, let's say in a scenario
that North Korean decide

to make the fateful decision

to launch a nuclear weapon
at the United States.

In that scenario
they would fire their missile

presumably various types
of U.S. missile defences.

Would try to intervene

and stop the North Koreans
from launching their attack

and successfully hitting
the U.S. homeland.

The defended area encompasses,

Alaska, Hawaii, and the 48 states
of the continental United States.

The ground base missile
defence system

is designed to detect
the launch of a ballistic missile,

begin tracking
that ballistic missile,

which then determines the best time
to gauge that ballistic missile

so that the debris
will burn up in space

and will not fall on the homeland.

They need to understand
I dropped bombs for most of my life.

Should North Korea launch

and Intercontinental
Ballistic Missile.

The ground base
missile defence system

will engage and destroy
that target,

I have high confidence in that.

But not all experts agree
that America's missile defence

is impregnable.

If our friends in North Korea
launched a ballistic missile.

We have a very small

and very partial ballistic missile
defence system.

It is almost entirely focused
on attacks

from the north or the northwest

because of the enemy
that we've been working

on trying to defend against
with Russia and China.

If they take a SCUD missile

and comes up close
on a container ship

to the American coast

and launches up,

we're not deployed in such a way
with our ballistic missile defences

as to stop that.

President Bush wanted to create

a national missile
defence capability.

We will develop and deploy
effective missile defences

to protect America and our allies
from sudden attack.

But under the Obama Administration
it was brought to a halt.

We will redouble our efforts

toward a more robust international
non-proliferation regime

that all countries
have responsibilities to meet.

We're not completely
without defences,

but we could be in much more
secure shape today

had the Obama Administration
not gutted

the Bush 43 Administration
Missile defence effort.

There is also a possibility that
North Korea could cripple America

without a nuclear bomb
ever hitting the country.

An electromagnetic pulse or E.M.P,

is a burst of radiation that could
damage and disable a power grid.

An E.M.P could be triggered
by a nuclear blast

many miles above its target,
eliminating the need for accuracy.

(COUNTDOWN)

There is something called

a fractional orbital
bombardment system

or a FOBS,

which the Russians developed
and for reasons known to them,

they've shared
with the North Koreans.

And what a FOBS is, is a launch
of a nuclear weapon on a satellite,

but the launch goes to the south

instead of the north.

Our sensors aren't really very well
designed to pick that out

of the other satellites
and space junk and so forth.

It detonates
50 to a 100 miles into space.

The area that it is over could
have its electric grid knocked out

and not just temporarily
with the lights off for a few hours,

but very solidly
for a long period of time.

We'll lose millions of people
in the United States

from starvation, and lack of water,
and social breakdown.

We're not talking about

any particularly
sophisticated capability.

It's just a satellite in orbit

getting blown up by the North Korean
command and saying,

"Okay, on this PAT Track around
let's blow it up over Omaha."

For the last 25 years,

from President Clinton
through President Trump,

the United States has attempted

to halt North Korea's
nuclear development

through diplomatic sanctions
rather than by force,

to little affect.

The Kim's have all lied
through their teeth

about their commitments
not to go nuclear and the rest.

I think this would be
our fourth time

in negotiating with them,
having them lie to us

and then break their agreements.

The U.S. knows it will need
international cooperation

to combat North Korea's
rogue actions,

and world leaders have agreed

on bringing the harshest
international sanctions yet.

But even this may prove ineffective.

The purpose of levying sanctions
against a dangerous regime

is to make it crumble from within.

Either the leader capitulates
or the people rebel.

The brutal conditions inside
North Korea are well documented.

Is there a chance
the people will rise up

and topple the regime?

The military has never been
able to challenge the Kim's.

And that dynamic has been maintained
under Kim Jong-Un as well.

So the danger or the risk
of a military coup d'état

inside North Korea is quite low.

The military remains beholden
to the Kim leaders themselves

and the party that supports
the supreme leader.

Kim Jong-Un is by far less beloved

than either of his predecessors
and that's a problem.

It's difficult to maintain a tyranny

when the one unifying factor is the
Cult of Personality around a leader

who is as off as Kim Jong-Un is.

The possibility that eventually
the people see through it,

and some sort of popular
uprising happens,

goes up everyday.

It's just unlikely,

and we may not be able to afford

to wait long enough
for that to happen

while he goes headlong down
the path of nuclear domination.

I think a revolution from within...

the framework of
the North Korean state is improbable

because the police
and military structures

are so powerful and oppressive.

Many people wonder why North Korean
people would stay in that situation,

why they would choose
to live that way,

why there wouldn't be
some sort of civil uprising.

And when asked about this,

defectors from North Korea
quickly dismissed these ideas.

And they say there's no thinking,
there's no free thought.

It's just fear.

They brainwashed us to think that
all other countries in the world,

except North Korea,

were filled with beggars
and poor people.

We were taught

that in the United States
or South Korea or other countries,

that those countries
were filled with beggars

who did not even
have porridge to eat.

We believed that was the truth.

To put diplomatic
and economic sanctions on the regime

in a way that almost
starves it out of existence

and forces him to capitulate,

give up his nuclear ambitions

and essentially plead for food
and energy to run his country.

That runs the risk
of him waiting us out

to the point where his country
is starving

and the people are dying,

but he's still got
all those military capabilities

because he'll just divert resources
to those things

while the people die
in the streets.

The brazenness of Kim Jong-Un
has gone beyond verbal volleys

at the U.S. and South Korea.

And has graduated to overt actions
toward another neighbour, Japan,

that has them feeling on edge.

This morning new worries,

the Japanese Prime Minister
warning North Korea

may already be able to send
a missile loaded with sarin gas

into Japan.

A deadly arsenal
and an unpredictable leader

who's not yet backing down.

The recent North Korean
missile test,

which flew directly
over the islands of Japan.

We are on a pretty heavy warfront.

Even if these reckless actions
are meant merely as taunts,

they could lead
to serious consequences.

I think the greatest threat
that we face

when it comes to North Korea's
nuclear weapons

and missile programmes
is the vent of an accidental war.

The greatest example
I could think of

is if the North Koreans decide
to test another missile.

And that missile goes over Japanese
or South Korean territory

and crash lands.

If lives are lost,

if people hurt, or maimed,
or injured,

I guarantee you either Seoul
or Japan in that instance

would want to retaliate.

Ready to fight tonight
is the slogan at Osan Airbase.

Its fighter jets
just a three-minute flight

from the North Korea border.

Every time the North Koreans
test fire a missile,

my hands literally start to shake

because I always
wait 30 minutes later

to make sure that missile
didn't crash land somewhere

because I know where it can lead,

and I think that's
the greatest pathway to war.

Nuclear weapons
are dramatically different

than any other tool in our arsenal.

Don't forget that a nuclear weapon
is harnessing the power of the Sun.

Not only would a nuclear exchange be
perhaps the worst thing

to have happened in world history,

but what may follow
could be even worse.

We could trigger
a global nuclear winter

that could kill billions of people.

The horror of this is
just immeasurable.

(CHANTING "KIM JONG-UN")

We have entered a period
of consequences.

We cannot go on kicking the can
down the road.

Our freedom, way of life,
will be compromised,

if we take no action.

Many would argue the United States
and South Korea let this happen.

We had a policy
of strategic patience,

North Korea kept doing its thing.

We did nothing to
alter their behaviour.

They now have nukes.

It's a done deal.

That genie is not gonna
get back into that bottle.

North Korea's long ranged plan
has finally paid off.

It started with Kim Il-Sung

relentlessly pursuing
nuclear technology

while taking oppressive control
of his people.

Nothing was beneath him,

including kidnapping foreigners
to further his cause.

His son, Kim Jong-Il
continued his legacy,

neglecting his citizens
during famine

while boosting
his black market operations

like drug running
and counterfeiting.

And now grandson Kim Jong-Un
has put the pieces together.

Achieving long distance
nuclear weapons.

His success
and the dangerous flaunting of it

has the world
on the brink of war.

This is not something
we can lightly,

the global community
needs to understand

every country is in danger
from the actions of North Korea.

The question is,
"What can be done now?"

One strategy that has been debated

is the so-called
decapitation approach.

Taking out Kim Jong-Un
either by assassin

or by surgical strike.

It's an idea fraught
with complications.

In the context of Korea
something has to be understood.

But it is very tightly organised
and tightly secured,

tightly controlled on its borders.

The only way that you could succeed

in trying to assassinate someone
is to penetrate that.

And I think you find that
the commander of special operations

would tell you
they couldn't penetrate it,

and if they tried
they would be killed.

The possibility of assassinating
Kim Jong-Un,

number one is difficult to pull off

from just a pure can we identify

where he will be
and hit and kill him.

We can't guarantee it.

He knows that's a goal,
he knows that's a problem,

and he's an extremely
paranoid individual.

So, he's got body doubles,

he's got every means of trying
to avoid being assassinated.

In addition, it is almost certain

that he's got some sort of
dead man switch.

He's got whatever
his most trusted allies are,

with the authority, and the power,
and the order,

to go ahead and do something awful
if he's taken out.

Let's say in the future
the United States

has satellites overhead

and Kim Jong-Un is inspecting
a missile that's gonna be tested.

The North Koreans love putting out

a demonstration platform
for Kim Jong-Un to sit upon

and U.S. satellites might be
able to pick that up.

We might be able to
quickly launch a tomahawk

and take out that missile platform
and take out Kim Jong-Un.

Nobody can answer the question of,
"What happens after?"

Imagine a scenario
where we do take out Kim Jong-Un

and the country does
devolve in a civil war.

That would be a civil war that could
be fought with nuclear weapons,

chemical weapons,
biological weapons.

Huge amounts of military power
that are in North Korea.

Keep in mind,

a North Korean civil war
fought with nuclear weapons,

would not stay in North Korea

just because of the nature
of nuclear weapons.

Atomic fallout spreads.

All we have to do is
look at the wind patterns

to figure out who is going to die,

so there is no way that
we can entertain the idea

of some sort of assassination.

That's just crazy.

If there's any attempt
to remove Kim Jong-Un from power

it will most likely have to be done

with North Korea's long-time ally,
China.

I think the only way to stop

the North Korean
nuclear weapons programme

is to eliminate the regime.

I think the best way to do that
is to reunite the two Koreas.

To convince China

that the merger of the two Koreas
is in their national interest,

as I think it's in
America's national interest.

China has the unique ability
to bring this about.

It supplies over 90 percent
of North Korea's energy,

supplies enormous amounts of food
and other humanitarian assistance.

In 2017,

the Trump administration
has very publicly

and repeatedly reached out to China

in an attempt to find
common interest

in taking out the Kim regime,

and to reunite North and South Korea
as one nation.

I met with the President of China.

I believe he wants to
get that situation taken care of.

They have tremendous power
and we'll see what happens.

Well, President Trump
has made it clear,

as have other American Presidents

that he will not accept
a nuclear North Korea.

And I think the point that
needs to be made to China is,

that means
we will use military force.

That is the kind of scenario
we could avoid

through negotiation
with China to agree

to a collaborative collapse
of the North Korean regime.

I wish we had this conversation
a long time ago.

But we didn't
because we followed the false,

misleading, hopelessly naive policy

of believing that we could
either chitchat North Korea

out of its nuclear weapons,
or pressure them out.

And both those options
have been tried for 25 years

and they've failed.

But getting China
to turn against their neighbour

may have too many hurdles
to overcome.

Even if we were able to get
the Kim family out of power,

you now are left with potentially
a massive refugee problem.

That's part of why China
is so concerned about this issue.

If North Korea goes up
in flames one way or the other,

the refugee flow into China

or the massive humanitarian crisis
on their border

would be extremely expensive
and horrific for them,

as it would be, of course,
for South Korea.

The Chinese,
when they survey all their options

nobody's dying right now in China
because of what's happening.

They can live with that right now.

They don't want to live with
something that would be far worse.

There's a different option
that would require less planning,

but much greater political risk.

You have to be ready to do something
that no one in the United States,

certainly in Washington
has talked about,

which is to ultimately
leave the peninsula.

In doing this we're effectively
defusing the crisis.

And that's a very important
development for the Chinese

because they've lived
with this nightmare

that at some point
we would sponsor an invasion

through Korea back into China.

Now, you and I
and other Americans may say,

"Well, that's ridiculous."

It's not very ridiculous

when you look at it
from the vantage point of Beijing,

that has lived with this threat
for hundreds and hundreds of years.

The idea that
the United States should withdraw

from the Korean Peninsula
is completely inconceivable.

United States has signed
a treaty with South Korea

that we defend them,
but more than that,

that we provide a nuclear umbrella
to South Korea.

Further more,
the North Koreans know

if they ever launched an attack
on South Korea or our forces there,

we would respond.

That would be the end of the regime.

That's why they're there,
that's why they have to stay there.

If the U.S. wants to prove
its resolve,

one option would be to flex
some military might of its own.

At some point President Trump
is going to determine

that continuing to allow Kim
and the regime

to perfect their
nuclear ICBM capabilities

is more dangerous than conducting
a demonstrative strike.

That's where we would pick
a particular military target

and destroy it, to show Kim

that this is what could happen
to all of his military hardware.

And hope that that focuses his mind

in a way
where the calculation changes.

Where he says,
"Okay, maybe I won't survive this."

But such a show of force could
have the worst consequences of all.

The North Koreans have a big ally

and that's the people's republic
of China

that would be World War III.

That's something we have to avoid.

While nations continue to debate on
how to deal with the hermit kingdom

and their tyrannical regime,

the United States continues
to prepare for the worst

from North Korea.

The problem we have
with North Korea,

we don't have any good options.

What we have is a cornucopia
of bad answers,

and at some point we're gonna
have to pick the least bad answer

and live with it.

Subtitle Caption by ZestCorp